Experience Isn't Always The Teacher
by Pam2
Summary: What might have happened if Jessie hadn't been in the garage when Grace came for help


"You've got to help me," Grace said, bursting into the garage.  Eli was lying on the bed looking at a magazine.  "Don't you know how to knock?"  He scowled at her.

Grace flopped on the bed next to him.  "Sorry, but I need your help."  Eli sat up.  "OK.  What's wrong?"  Grace shook her head and said, "It's me and Mr. Dimitri.  Haven't you heard?  We're having an affair."  Eli, hardly able to believe his ears, shook his head, chuckled, and said, "Excuse me?"

"Don't laugh Eli.  It's all over the school.  He may lose his job."  Eli got serious and stood up.  "Do you realize how old he is, Grace?"  Grace looked like she was going to cry.  "I thought you'd help, Eli.  But you're just like all the rest."  She stood up and started towards the door.  Eli ran and put himself between her and the exit.  "Don't leave Grace.  I'm sorry.  That was just my first reaction.  Sit back down and I'll listen, ok?"

"OK."  Grace sat back down on the bed.  Eli sat on the floor with his back against the door.  "Well, the other night I went to a movie with him" she began.

"With Mr. Dimitri?!?!?" Eli asked, amazed.  "Grace are you really having an affair with him?  I thought you were kidding."  For some reason he wasn't ready to analyze, the realization that she might have been serious made him feel like there was a lead weight in his stomach.

"Eli, shut up.  You said you'd listen."

"OK, OK, go ahead."

Grace sighed.  "Anyway, it was supposed to be me and him and a couple other kids from class.  The movie was based on a literary masterpiece, so that's why we were going.  Well, the other kids couldn't make it, but I didn't see why we couldn't still go."

Eli raised one eyebrow, but kept his mouth shut when Grace gave him a look.  "So we went and that's all there was to it, but some girl from my class found out and is spreading the rumors about us having an affair.  Now we both have to go up before the school board.  It's horrible."

Hearing Grace say it wasn't true made Eli feel much lighter.  He said, "that really sucks, Grace, but I guess I don't know how I'm supposed to help you."

Grace said, "I was hoping you could come with me and tell them that you've seen me and Mr. Dimitri together and he's not doing anything wrong.  It's just a teacher/student thing and that's it."  Eli suddenly got an odd look on his face and Grace said, "What?"

"Were you going to that movie Wednesday night about 7:00?"

"Yeah, why?"

Eli cleared his throat.  "Well, I saw you walk by heading to the car and I thought you were going to a party or had a date or something because you looked so hot.  You sure didn't look like you were heading to some educational teacher/student thing."

Grace stiffened.  "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Grace, come on.  Knock it off.  You had your hair all curled so it framed your face instead of that kindergarten ponytail you wear all the time.  You were wearing a really nice sweater that definitely didn't hide your…um…shape.  And, to top it all off, you were wearing a short black leather skirt.  A leather skirt, Grace?  Where the hell did that come from?"

Grace blushed.  "I had just bought it."

Eli frowned.  "You just bought it?  I've never known you to 'just buy' anything like that before."

Grace, angry now, said, "Oh yeah?  Well, maybe you don't know me so well after all."

"You're right.  Maybe I don't.  But I do know enough about girls to know the kinds of things they do when they're trying to get a guy to notice them, and not in a 'oh I hope he can tell I'm a good student' kind of way, either."

Grace just sat there, getting ready to defend herself again.  Then, her eyes filled with tears and she looked down at her lap.  "Grace?" Eli said, uncertainly.  He could hear the soft sobs coming from her.  He got up, sat down on the bed and put his arm around her shoulders.  "Grace, I'm sorry.  Don't cry.  Please.  I'll say whatever you want to the school board."

Grace looked up with tears streaming down her face.  "No, Eli.  Don't you see?  You're right.  I like him as more than a teacher.  I've been hoping all this time that things could be different for us.  I guess I was pretty stupid to think it would be accepted if it ever happened."

Eli wiped the tears from her cheeks.  "You're not stupid, Grace."  He paused, not really wanting to ask the next question.  "So, he's really that important to you, huh?"

Grace nodded.  But then she shook her head.  "Oh, Eli, I don't know.  He really is important to me, but I'm not sure about the romantic thing.  I feel drawn to him because he has done so much to broaden my view of things and help me be more confident in myself.  I write better and see deeper into things because of him.  He's amazing."  Eli swallowed hard and nodded without speaking.  "So, I figured, if there's someone that can do that for me, I want to get to know them as more than just a teacher.  As a human being.  As a friend.  Do you understand that?"

As he looked at Grace, her cheeks still damp from the tears, Eli felt something become very clear inside him all of a sudden.  He smiled slightly.  "Do I understand that?  Do I understand that someone can come into your life when you least expect it, turn it upside down and then straighten it up at the same time?  That someone can make you realize you really are worth something?  That you have talent that cannot be done away with?  Someone that makes you feel good and happier and lighter just by having a conversation with them?  Do I understand that? Grace, I LIVE that every time I'm with you."                  

Both of them were shocked at the outburst and they stared at each other for a moment.  Grace opened her mouth to speak and Eli put his finger on her lips and shook his head.  "Don't talk.  Not yet."  Then, never taking his eyes from hers, his head moved slowly towards her face.  Grace closed her eyes and waited, half afraid, half excited.  She wasn't prepared for the electricity that shot though her when their lips met.  Every thought was pushed from her mind and all she was aware of was the feel of his lips on hers.  He pulled his head back reluctantly and cupped her face in his hands.  "You have an old soul and the loneliest eyes, Grace."  That snapped her out of it.  "What did you just say?" she said, in shock.  "An old soul with the loneliest eyes.  It's what I told Mr. Dimitri about you the night of the cast party at the house.  It just came to me when I was looking at you in the living room.  You are so beyond your years that…."

Eli never got to finish his sentence because Grace leaned in and began kissing him with a passion he couldn't believe.  He grabbed her around the waist and leaned back on the bed, pulling her on top of him.  She straddled his hips and began moving against him, never breaking the kiss.  He moaned and slipped his hands up under her shirt, his tongue sliding into the hot wetness of her mouth.

"Eli, did you take my new CD?' Jessie said, walking into the garage.  She stopped and stared at Grace and Eli.  Eli said, "Christ!  I have GOT to start locking that damn door!"  Jessie stuttered something about being sorry and charged out of the room.  Grace groaned and slid off Eli to lie on the bed next to him.  "Oh, that's just great.  Now what are we going to do?"  To her surprise, Eli rolled over and sat on her, straddling her this time.  "I'll tell you what we're going to do, Grace.  I'm going to help you out the best I can with this Dimitri thing, we are going to face the music with our parents, and I am going to get up and lock this door and take up where we left off!"  Grace smiled and wiggled underneath him.  "I think those sound like the best ideas I've heard in a long time!" 


End file.
